MiniHDV Marvel

INTRODUCTION
As an owner of an FX1 I decided to replace my Canon XM2 with a second HD camera, primarily to use as a safety cam & perhaps a player to save wearing out my man cam.

It's worth pointing out how small the HC1 is, I would put it at about a quarter of the FX1, almost pocket sized, which when you consider how much is packed in, is quite an achievement.

Despite the small size the main controls are tactile enough, the dual focus/zoom ring is lovely and tactile, and certainly makes up for the (much better than in previous models) zoom toggle.

For those who have decided that a lanc controller is the only way to fly, there is a lanc socket to the rear of the cam.

FEATURES
This camera is pitched at a funny area of the market, I struggle to call any single imager camera a pro-sumer camera, but in this case it's not a bad description.

For home users this camera can be simple enough to use, and is certainly compact enough to be an appealing entry into the world of HD. For advanced users there are enough bells and whistles to keep them busy.

As well as the easy mode with auto exposure and auto AF there is just about every manual control you could ask for (with one notable exception which I'll come back to)

-Zebra pattern (70% or 100%)
-Manual Shutter
-Manual Exposure (kind of....)
-Optical Image Stabilisers
-Manual & Preset White Balance
-Manual Audio Level
-mic input

When I say 'kind of..', yes you can change exposure manually, however you have no indication of the cameras aperture setting or the gain level until you playback with data code on.

I think this is a major failing in an otherwise well sorted camera.

COMPATIBILITY
One of the biggest concerns about HDV is compatibility. The good news is that it will continue to playback your existing miniDV tapes (SP & LP), and even if you decide to shoot on HDV for future quality, you can still down convert to edit on your existing Standard def suite or playback on your SD TV set.

You can even playback 16:9 HDV on a 4:3 SD TV set!

More and more companies are introducing low cost HDV compatible software, if you use a PC then Pinnacle 10 Plus will do the job (disappointingly Adobe Premiere Elements 2.0 won't) if you use a Mac then iMovieHD will do the trick, though I'd opt for Final Cut Express HD if you can stretch to it.

There is a min input and LANC input, and you can download your HDV or DV edits back to tape, however there is no AV input which I think is a major disappointment, but I appreciate there will always be a concession to overall cost.

IMAGE
The HD quality is absolutely amazing, even viewed on an SD set there is a visible difference, the native widescreen is a huge boon as well (this can be switched to 4:3 in DV mode only) colours are rich, motion smooth and the levels of detail are absolutely astounding. It really has to be seen to believe.

As with the FX1 I was scared that there might be motion or compression artefacts, I experienced none whatsoever, even under heavy zooming, rapid panning and shots with a narrow range of colours.

I did find that the camera was a little dark indoors, although it’s a nice big sensor (1/3 inch) there are a lot of sensors squeezed on to it. For home users this usually means a wee bit more gain which almost defeats the other benefits of HD.

I can't comment on the stills quality as I haven't (& probably won't) use this feature.

OTHER
There are a couple of things I think Sony could have got better which don't fit in quite so easily under the above headers.

-The supplied battery life is abysmal. You really need the M type-91 battery to get anything like decent recording time.

-The camera is a bottom loader, making tape changes with a tripod a bit more cumbersome.

-There is a hatch for a mic to slot into, but it is Sony’s propriety mic (a universal hotshoe would have been much better).

-Unlike its big brother there is no ND filter built in, & attaching filters is a fiddle when the wide lens shade is on.

CONCLUSION
It is the best camera for the money, by a mile, but do be aware of it's (silly) limitations.